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When Did We See You Hungry and Feed You?

Dr. Ray Pritchard

Dr. Ray Pritchard's Weblog

2010Mar 22

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"When did we ever see you hungry and feed you?" (Matthew
25:37)

Somewhere I read about St. Benedict's first rule for his followers:
hospitality. They must always show kindness to strangers because in so doing
they are showing kindness to Christ himself. The story is told about an old
Benedictine monk who was about to lock the monastery door at the end of a very
exhausting weekend. There had been so many guests and some of them had proved
quite difficult to handle. He was secretly glad to see them all go so he could
have a bit of rest. Just as he was closing the door, a new group of pilgrims
walked up the path and asked for admittance. Under his breath, he said to
himself, "Lord Jesus Christ, is it you again?"

These words of Jesus offer a liberating perspective because it is easy to
feel overwhelmed or perhaps resentful at the intrusion of others into our
well-planned agendas. And sometimes, consciously or not, we can give off an air
of condescension, of pride and superiority, of smugness because "We've found the
truth and you haven't, you poor, benighted pagans." And don't think those "poor,
benighted pagans" can't sense it. They're not stupid. They know when Christians
talk down to them. The words of Jesus help us see things in a new light.

We know that when we go "in his name," he goes with us.We know that we
are going "with him" and "for him."But now we know that we are also going
"to him."He's on the receiving end of the mercy transaction.He is there
in the face of the Afghan refugee.He stands with the homeless at the Harlem
Avenue exit.He is there with the single mother struggling with three young
children.He has a cell inside every prison in America.He walks the halls
of the cancer unit at the hospital.He hears the cries of abused
children.He is there in the assembly of Sudanese believers.

If you look, you can see him in the streets of Calcutta. Mother Teresa found
him there. But he is also in Hanoi and Montreal and Lisbon and in a Haitian town
called Pignon. There is a sense in which the Lord Jesus can be found wherever
there is human pain and suffering. If there is a broken heart, you can find him
there. If there is sadness or guilt, Jesus will be there somewhere. That's why
he was called "a man of sorrows." And there is a deeper sense in which you can
find the Lord Jesus wherever you find his people scattered on the earth.
"Where two or three are gathered together …" What's the end of
that verse? "There am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20
KJV).

When we help his people, we are helping him.When we dry a tear or offer a
word of hope, we are serving him.When we go the extra mile even though we
are already dead tired and a bit frustrated because we don't have the time or
energy and we're already behind schedule, but we do it anyway, he sees and knows
what we have done, and he marks it down as if we had done it to him
personally.

One day, long after we've forgotten the frustrations of this life, he will
remember it. And we will be rewarded. It all comes down to this: Jesus
forgets what we remember. And he remembers what we forget. You might even
say that the whole gospel is in those two sentences.

Lord Jesus, give us eyes to see you in the eyes of the hurting,
hungry, helpless people all around us. Then give us your heart to reach out to
you and for you in your name, Amen.